The present invention relates to jewelry and, more particularly, to jewelry containing rotatable or reversible faces for exposing a different face.
For centuries, one of the most common indications of sophistication and personal style is jewelry. Even ancient royalty in Egypt were known to wear jewelry and be entombed with it. Only the rich could afford to purchase jewelry and it was worn as a sign of wealth. Individual pieces of jewelry were often custom made to cater to the style of the rich. A large collection of jewelry was desirable, of course, since more jewelry implied more wealth. Historically, consumers wanting different jewelry designs or motifs were forced to purchase different types of jewelry. The jewelry""s cost, design, style and colors are characteristics that have consumers choosing one piece of jewelry over another. Yet, high costs of jewelry often make it very difficult for consumers to purchase each design and motif of jewelry they desire.
Travelling with jewelry also poses another problem. People are forced to choose the pieces of jewelry they would like to take with them. It is common for people to have matching earrings, necklaces, rings, and bracelets, which are worn with a specific outfit. Oftentimes, the color scheme or style of the jewelry allows it to be worn with only one specific outfit. When travelers have a few different types of these outfits, they are forced either to take a great amount of jewelry with them, or not to be as fashionable as they would like to be. Travelling with all of one""s jewelry is clearly not a feasible solution, unfortunately, due to the large quantities of different types of jewelry needed to coordinate with different outfits.
High prices of jewelry have created a market for jewelry with reversible faces. A significantly greater amount of jewelry styles can be purchased if the jewelry""s frame remained the same while the aesthetic facing was reversible. This type of jewelry would also enable a traveler to travel with more styles of jewelry, while not packing many more items.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,486, issued to Uchin on Mar. 7, 2000 for REVERSIBLE JEWELRY, a pierced-ear earring is illustrated comprising a toggle having inner and outer sides and an earpost attached to the inner side. A perforation passes through two other sides of the toggle, and an upper portion of a loop is positioned within the perforation. A pendant, having first and second faces comprising non-identical ornaments, is attached to a lower portion of the loop. The loop and pendant are rotatable as a unit through 180 degrees about the axis of the perforation and, together with the toggle and earpost, form a unitary structure that is rotatable through 180 degrees about the axis of the earpost.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a reversible item of jewelry. The jewelry consists of a frame portion that holds two different decorative faces at one time. The decorative faces have the ability to flip over within the frame to expose the opposite face. A tubing portion is located on the upper portion of the frame. A wire runs through the tubing and is attached to the frame at either end. A balled wire portion is encased between mating male and female insert pillows and attaches to the tubing portion, allowing the insert pillows to be flipped easily. The insert face, or pillow portion, is either a male or female half with a decorative surface. Each insert pillow has a semi-circular cutout on its top, allowing the wire from the balled wire to pass through when two insert pillows are mated. A stop is attached to the back of the frame to prevent the pillow from coming through the back of the frame. A spring wire portion is located at the base of the frame to lock the insert pillows into place so that they do not flip on their own accord. A half-notch cutout on the bottom of each insert pillow combines with the mating insert to form a notch that locks onto the spring wire portion to secure the inserts to the frame. A full-notch cutout on the bottom of each insert pillow can also be used to lock into the spring wire.
More than one reversible item of jewelry can be attached by conventional means to one another. This orientation creates a single item of jewelry with multiple reversible ornamental members. Other, non-reversible, ornamental members can also be attached by conventional means to the reversible item of jewelry.
It is an object of this invention to provide jewelry with ornamental members that can be reversed relative to their frame.
It is another object of this invention to provide reversible jewelry that contains two mating insert pillows.
It is another object of this invention to provide reversible jewelry that can be flipped easily to expose the opposite face.
It is another object of this invention to provide reversible jewelry that can be locked into place within its frame.